306 TlMEHRI. 
they can work unseen. These inse6ls do not mutilate 
the book by nibbling, or spoiling the binding, or boring 
holes in it ; they simply eat it entirely, as a hungry boy 
eats his thick slice of bread. Where, however, the books 
are a little too much exposed for them to work properly, 
they will get into the back between the stitching and 
the cover, through a book-worm's hole, or if there are 
folding plates which keep the volume from closing 
tightly, they insinuate themselves between the leaves. 
Once inside, they begin to mine ; there may be apparently 
nothing wrong outside, but when you open the 
book you find a hollow filled with insefts, which 
have eaten almost all the letterpress, up to the margins. 
By keeping the shelves away from the walls and giving 
a little attention to wormy volumes, the Library may be 
easily freed from this kind of Bibliophage. Some 
species of carnivorous ants are mortal enemies to 
termites ; it has been even suggested that nests of ants 
should be introduced into or near old houses to 
destroy them, but as the remedy may be worse than 
the disease, such experiments should be tried very 
cautiously. 
Book-worms are the larvae of species of Death-watch 
(Anobium) , and one or more kinds of moth. The eggs 
are laid by the parent inse6l in any convenient crevice of 
the book, such as between the leaves when they are loose, 
or in the space between the stitching and the back. As 
soon as the larva is hatched, it begins to eat its way 
through one leaf after another until it gets to the cover, 
where it is sometimes turned back, but more often it will 
penetrate through one volume after another, to the end 
of the shelf. A case has been reported of seventeen 
